Alcalá de Henares and Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Last week I went with some friends to Alacalá de Henares; hometown of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of Don Quixote.

It is such a beautiful place… I want to show you some pictures, please allow me.

This is a corner of the courtyard of Cervantes’s home. This is where he was born in 1547.

This is The Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso, main building of the University of Alcalá de Henares, founded by the Cardinal Cisneros in 1499. It is one of the most important works of the Spanish Renaissance and declared a World Heritage Site in 1998.

This is the main courtyard of Schools, also called of St. Thomas of Villanova, the first Saint out of the Complutense University.

This is the Trilingual Patio, which belonged to the College of St. Jerome, built between 1564 and 1570.

This is the Paraninfo, where The Miguel de Cervantes Prize is held every year since 1976.

We should note that the University was the subject of spoliation from the year 1836 and will not be recovered by the residents of Alacalá until 1851. For this reason much of the architectural and decorative richness of this beautiful complex is gone.

Ok, now let’s eat something!

Two of the all-time favorite cookies at home are Chocolate Chip cookies and Peanut butter cookies. So today’s recipe is a delicious hibrid between those two, better than a Prius 😉

Ingredients

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup packed dark-brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into chunks

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 ºF.

In a bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda; set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat peanut butter, butter, and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until smooth. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture, beating just until combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.

Beautiful photos of such ancient buildings .. magnificent!!
Do you think that almond butter would work instead of peanut butter? I just happen to have a jar of the a/butter in the fridge….. I bought it because it was different and I was curious .. it almost tastes like peanut butter. thanks!

Thanks!
I’m glad you like this post 🙂
I think that if almond butter has the same texture as peanut butter, then yes it may work fine. I think that if you see that the dough is too soft, then maybe you can add one tbsp. of flour.
Now I’m curious too, please let me know how they came out 😉

Hi Barbara!
I’m glad you like it. Yes, the paraninfu is stunning, but apparently it was even more beautiful long time ago, but due to spoliation the floor and all the lower area of the room was destroyed (and the building use as barn)